Challenging
by eulalie27
Summary: 100 Themes Challenge. Various snippets of Avatar-verse goodness, multiple pairings.
1. Challenges 1 Through 5

**One- Introduction**

"Come on, come on!" she cried dragging him through the crowd. "There's somebody I'd like you to meet!"

Reluctantly, he followed, unwilling to end her rare moment of happiness. "Okay, okay!" he mocked.

"Hey, Suki!" Katara waved at the short-haired brunette. "Come meet my brother!" She screeched to a halt. "Sokka, this is Suki. Suki, this is my brother Sokka."

Suki held out a hand. "Nice to meet you."

He shook her hand in greeting. "You too." Her hand was warm and callused. The grin she gave him sent a tingle down his spine.

"You can let go now, Sokka."

**Two- Love**

The second time he saw her, he knew he was in love.

He had been walking down the street, and he bumped into her when he turned a corner.

Of course, he fell right on his butt.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she cried as she stooped to pick up the items he had dropped. Then, in a clichéd move right out of a story, he reached for the mango she was picking up at the same time. Their hands touched, sending a shock up his arm.

"It's okay. It was my fault, Suki."

She stared at him. After a minute she appeared to have an epiphany. "Oh! You're Katara's brother, Sokka. Right?"

He nodded. "Yeah that's me."

"Well, it was nice to see you again, but I have to-" she gestured behind her in the universal gesture for 'I'm leaving.'

"Yeah. We should meet again later."

She tilted her head and squinted in the bright sun of the market. "Yeah, sure," she agreed with a grin. She started to leave before she felt his hand on her arm.

"How can I find you?"

"Just ask around." She waved over her shoulder as she walked away.

Yep, he was in love.

**Three- Light**

It was a week after their unexpected meeting in the marketplace, and six days after he decided he was going out of his mind. He was so madly in love that he thought it would kill him. So he had asked around, and found her and arranged to meet her again.

So that was why he was standing in a large clearing in the woods next to a bubbling brook with his mouth hanging open like an idiot.

Suki glanced over her shoulder to see why he had stopped following her. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" He shook his head to bring his thoughts back to the here and now. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just…" The light streaming through the break in the tree branches shone across her face in a way that took his breath away. The angles of her face were clearly defined, soft and feminine in the afternoon sunshine. Her eyes sparkled with amusement.

"It's just…?" she prompted.

"You're beautiful in that light."

"Oh." She blinked, slightly surprised. "Thanks."

**Four- Dark**

Everything he decided he liked best about Suki was dark. Her hair when it hung in her eyes when she gave him _that look_, the same one Katara gave him when he told a particularly stupid joke.

Her eyes, when she was angry or sad. Or annoyed with him, or when she laughed…

Her warrior's clothes, coated with dust, after a long day of sparring.

But he also hated the dark. He couldn't read her expression in the moonlight. He couldn't help but worry and fret over her when he saw her costume speckled with dark bloodstains.

And in the dark, he worried she wouldn't know how much he loved her. Because the dark is shaded, shielding things from view, even the brightest sparks of affection.

**Five- Seeking Solace**

When he heard the knock on his door that night, he didn't expect to see her there.

Her clothing and hair was soaked. The green fabric of her warrior's costume hung off her in what must have been an uncomfortable way. Her hair was limp and tangled. Her makeup was mostly washed away. She must have been fighting and got caught in the storm.

"Hey. Come on in, get out of the rain." He gestured for her to follow him inside.

She sniffled, and he realized she was crying. "Okay. Thank you for your hospitality." She bent her head in gratitude.

"Suki." She looked up. "Are you okay?"

Apparently she wasn't. Throwing herself in his arms, she began to sob. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have brought the trainees with us. They weren't ready, and we ran into the Fire Nation, and they- they're _dead_ now and it's all my fault." She buried her head in his shoulder and continued to cry.

"Shh," he soothed her, combing his fingers through her matted hair and rubbing her back in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. "It wasn't your fault

In a matter of minutes, she had dried her tears and was preparing to leave.

"Thank you, Sokka." She spoke with an edge of embarrassment. "I hope to see you soon under more favorable circumstances."

"You don't have to be embarrassed about crying, you know. Just because you're a warrior doesn't mean you have to be strong all the time."

"Yes it does."

"Okay. But it's still raining pretty hard. You're welcome to stay here for tonight."

She flashed him a grateful smile. "Thank you. But I would hate to be a burden…"

"Not at all. I'll take the couch."

He thought he saw her frown.

**A/N: Don't worry. I haven't forgotten **_**Intuition**_**; I just needed to get some more Sukka fluff out in the Avatar fic-verse. Expect more in the next nineteen chapters. First time writing Avatar fic. Let me know how I did!**


	2. Challenges 6 Through 10

**A/N: Hello. Sorry it took so long to get these up, but I've been suffering from major writer's block and the laziness of summer. (See the second A/N at the bottom for a word from our sponsor.) This batch is mainly Zutara, mostly pretty fluffy. Enjoy!**

**Six- Break Away- **

My life has sucked so far.

I think I can fairly say that. The only consistency besides my uncle's strange obsession with tea, my father's inherent need for power, and my sister's cruelty is that people always leave. My mother left us. Uncle and I left everything. And I left Uncle.

But then I met the Water Tribe girl, Katara. There's something about her, something I can't quite name, but something that draws me to her like a magnet. I met her, and I knew, _This is the one person I can never leave._

**Seven- Heaven**

"I'm scared," she wheezes. She has been ill for months. After a while, we expected that she might not make it, but she seemed to deteriorate suddenly. Then we knew we were right.

_I am too_, I think, but I don't say it out loud. Instead I say, "I know. But you're going to be fine." I run my fingers through her tangled hair, fanned out over the pillow.

"I know when you're lying, Zuko. You've been by my bedside for weeks-" she breaks down in a coughing fit "-and I know you well enough to tell when you're not exactly completely truthful."

I look down to where one of her hands has grasped mine on the bedspread. "I know." There's nothing else to say.

"It's okay. I…" She begins coughing again.

I hand her the glass of water on the bedside table. "You shouldn't talk."

She gulps the water eagerly. Then she's silent.

"Zuko," she says suddenly after about ten minutes have passed. "Do you believe in heaven?"

"Katara!" I can feel my eyes well up as I admonish her.

"Do you?" she persists.

I sigh, burying my head in my hands. "Katara… Yes. Maybe, for some other people. But not me."

"Why not?" Always questioning, she stares at me. I know she won't back down until I answer her question.

"Because… I've done horrible things."

"Oh." She nods knowingly. "I have too, you know. I've killed people."

"But you're not a bad person."

She pulls me into a hug. "Thank you. But you're not either. I hope you know that."

"Okay." I don't believe her.

"Hmm." She sighs. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

We hold each other like that for a while. Until I realize she's gone.

**Eight- Innocence**

"Zuko?" I march into the room where he is polishing his broadswords. "Have you seen my necklace?"

He doesn't even look up. "No," he says in a monotone. "Why would I want your stupid necklace anyway?"

"Well, it's not like you've never taken it before."

He sits the sword he's currently working on back on the heavy wooden table. "I. Didn't. Take. Your. Necklace."

I stare at him, unconvinced. "Well, where is it then?"

"I don't know. Ask Sokka or Aang?"

"Why would they have it?"

Even though his hair falls in a curtain around his face, I can still tell that he is wearing a pleased smirk. "Zuko." I wait for him to look up. "This is the last time I'm going to ask. Where. Is. My. Necklace?"

"Oh, I'm completely innocent." His smile widens, and he is silent for a moment before bursting into startling peals of laughter.

I cross my arms over my chest and tap my foot impatiently, waiting for him to calm down.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He wipes a few tears from his eyes. "I have your necklace. It's in my room. I'm sorry I took it."

I cock my head sideways and give him a lopsided grin. "No, you're not. I can tell. You enjoyed this."

"Hmm." A snort escapes him. "I guess I did."

I give him the death glare. "I'll get you back for this."

As I walk down the hall towards his bedroom, I can hear his roaring laughter and I smile to myself.

**Nine- Drive**

After ten days of him staying up until well after midnight working, Katara decided she had to take a stand. She managed to convince the guards surrounding his study to take the night off, giving her the opportunity to confront him.

"Zuko, I need to talk to you," she said. She stood in front of the doors, while he was turned, bent over his work table with his back to her.

Not looking up, he muttered, "Hmm?"

"I haven't seen you go to bed in almost two weeks." She crossed her arms over her chest and took a few steps forward. Before Zuko knew it, she was standing right behind him, resting her chin on his shoulder. "What are you working on?"

He grabbed the object off the table and hid it behind his back, turning around quickly to face her. The look on his face was one of panic. "Um… Nothing."

She raised an eyebrow. "Mm-hmm. I can tell it's nothing."

"It's, uh, it's a… birthday present!" He seemed to relax a little. "For, um, Azula…?"

"Then why is it blue?" She knew if she stared at him long enough, he would confess.

"Okay, okay!" He threw up his hands in defeat. "It is a birthday present. But it's for you." He held out the hand with the item.

It was a necklace, the most beautiful she had ever seen, a dark grey stone carved with a sun on a royal blue ribbon.

"Oh, Zuko, I love it." She picked it up carefully, holding it up to examine more closely. "It's gorgeous."

"It only took so long because I kept messing up the carving and having to start over." He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I wanted it to be perfect."

"It is. I love it," she said again. She threw her arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank you so much." Pulling away, she noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "Now go get some sleep." She kissed him gently before retiring.

Oh yes, those ten nearly-sleepless nights had definitely been worth it, he decided.

**Ten- Breathe Again**

You know how sometimes when you really screw up, and there's that split second of _Oh my God, I can't believe I did that_ before you're _really_ screwed? I know.

I remember walking next to the little pond out in the woods. She must have been nearby. I passed the pond and was strolling along the stream that flowed away from the pool of water when I came to the log. It reached across the brook like a bridge. I decided to cross it. That was my first mistake.

I tested the log as best as I could, to see if it would hold my weight. It seemed sturdy enough. I was halfway across when I hit the bad spot.

A section of the log was partially rotted away, a detail I didn't notice until I went to set my foot down there and it went right through. I lost my balance, and fell into the river, hitting my head on the log as I fell. The last thing I remembered, other than that _Oh, crap_ feeling, was the thought that I, Prince Zuko of 

the Fire Nation, would meet his terrible end by drowning in a little river barely three feet deep. Then everything went black.

--

When I woke up, I began to cough up water. I was on dry land, and I was alive, breathing air again rather than inhaling water.

"Are you okay?"

It was that Water Tribe girl that travels with the Avatar, the Waterbender. She must have saved me.

I started to answer, but I could only cough up more water. She waited patiently as I choked.

"Y-yeah," I stuttered. I was beginning to feel how cold I was, now that the initial joy of not being dead was wearing off.

"Okay." She stood and began to leave.

"Hey!" I must have gotten her attention, because she turned back to look at me. "Thank you."

She didn't say anything, but I thought I saw her smile as she left.

**A/N 2: That's it for this chapter, folks. Sorry it sucks; I'm not thinking at my best during the summer, so writer's block often prevails over the need for some Avatar-y goodness. **

**I'm in need of some assistance from some fellow Avatar lovers. I'm planning a new story for Avatar, and I've found that in the AU universe my story takes place in, people need last names. So I'll need them for the following characters: Aang, Sokka/Katara, Zuko/Azula, Suki, Mai, and Ty Lee. I appreciate your help! Just leave them in your reviews! :D**


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